The Answer Sheet: civil war


Posted at 10:10 AM ET, 10/20/2010

The rich irony in Virginia’s history textbook error
By Valerie Strauss
There is rich historic irony in the news that a textbook given to Virginia’s fourth graders wrongly claims that thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil War: The process by which textbooks are adopted by states began because Southern states after the war did not want their children to read the North’s version of the conflict.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:10 AM ET, 10/20/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Curriculum, Curriculum, Curriculum | Tags:  black confederates, civil war, confederate soldiers, diane ravitch, did blacks fight for the south, history textbooks, jay mathews, textbook adoption, textbooks, the confederacy, virginia textbook, virginia textbooks

Posted at 11:29 AM ET, 04/08/2010

Teaching the Civil War: Debate still alive
By Valerie Strauss
Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s apology for leaving slavery out of a proclamation declaring April as Confederate History Month cannot gloss over the fact that the issue is still alive. While there is little disagreement among professional historians that slavery was the central reason for the secession of 11 Southern states from the union and the eruption of the war, it is still taught as only one of the issues in many Southern schools.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:29 AM ET, 04/08/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  causes of civil war, mcpherson and civil war, obama, obama and civil war, obama and history, slavery as cause of civil war, teaching the civil war, virginia gov. civil war, virginia politics

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 10/07/2009

SPOTLIGHT: U-Richmond President Edward Ayers Is On a Civil War Mission

By Valerie Strauss
There is, it turns out, a “great untold story” of the Civil War and Edward Ayers is determined to teach it to you and your children.Ayers is one of the nation’s leading Civil War scholars, who, two years ago, serendipitously became president of the University of Richmond in the capital of the Confederacy. He is intent on using the gift of location and the approaching 150th anniversary of the Civil War (in 2011-2015) to spark a public discussion on the Civil War that sounds very different than past conversations.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 10/07/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Civics Education, Civics Education | Tags:  Civil War, President Edward Ayers, University of Richmond